Kick-Off: Gameweek 13 Fantasy Preview

Roman Abramovich certainly loves the personnel from Merseyside.

A week of sackings as Roberto Di Matteo became the first Premier League manager to be discharged from his job this season following a 0-3 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League. Shocking. Replacing him is ex-Liverpool gaffer Rafael Benitez, until the end of the season.

The Blues of London certainly need a miracle to progress to the next round now, while the Blues of Manchester — Manchester City — are officially out of the tournament. Both Manchester United and Arsenal have secured their progress though.

Also being sacked is Queen Park Rangers' ex-manager Mark Hughes, after such a horrible season with only 4 points despite having a more than decent squad. He is then quickly replaced by Harry Redknapp, one of the best manager since Premier League's establishment 20 years ago.

Let's see how these sides respond in the Premier League as we head into the 13th gameweek of the season.

GAMEWEEK 12 TOP SCORERS

1. Carlos Tevez (£9.4m, 19 pts): Explosive. The Argentine is now leading the fantasy scoreboard and looks set to become the first player to break the 100-point milestone.
2. Jose Enrique (£5.7m, 18 pts): Looks superb to play out of position. If he can lock down the left wing spot he could be the next fantasy hot cake.
3. David Silva (£9.3m, 16 pts): And finally the Spaniard scored something which tallies with his price. Needs a few more of such performance to regain fantasy managers' confidence though.
4. Santi Cazorla (£9.4m, 13 pts): The expected one to perform when Arsenal perform.
5. Adam Le Fondre (£4.8m, 13 pts): A good, low-cost benchwarmer in your fantasy team considering his penalty duties.

FEATURED: Chelsea v Manchester City @ Stamford Bridge
Rafa Benitez will have a tough start at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea face league leaders Manchester City.

The Blues have gone four matches without a win and will definitely hope for a change under the new gaffer. Fernando Torres (£9.5m, 2 pts) is the man on the radar now as he had flourished well under the leadership of Benitez and will hope to replicate the same thing again.

Frank Lampard (£8.4m, - pts) and John Terry (£6.6m, - pts) will continue to spend time with the physios, and thus offensive burden will continue to lay heavily on Juan Mata (£9.6m, 1 pt) and Eden Hazard (£10.1m, 7 pts) while defensively it will continue to leak in my opinion.

Roberto Mancini certainly has huge pressure after witnessing the sack of Roberto Di Matteo and will go all out to deliver the necessary result to avoid following Di Matteo's footsteps. Carlos Tevez (£9.4m, 19 pts), David Silva (£9.4m, 16 pts) and Sergio Aguero (£11.0m, 11 pts) will continue be Mancini's main weapon to rely on if they are to get something from London this Sunday.

Tough one to call given the uncertainty that new manager gives, but I believe City should be able to knock down unsettled Chelsea.

Prediction: CHE 1-2 MCI

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester United
A managerial change at Queens Park Rangers, but I don't think that will change Manchester United status as the most fantasy friendly team this week.

United went for a full rotation in Champions League defeat against Galatasaray and will have their elites fully prepared for a full scale demolition. Wayne Rooney (£11.7m, - pts) will be fit for the clash, though Robin Van Persie (£13.7m, 2 pts) remains the best pick of the team and perhaps across the league as well for this week's FPL captain.

The Rangers don't score a lot of goals, so it's likely for Rafael Da Silva (£6.4m, 1 pt) and co to get some good returns.

Prediction: MUN 3-0 QPR

PLAYER FOCUS: Kone
Wigan will host Reading who have only kept one clean sheet so far this season, so I think Arouna Kone (£6.5m, 2 pts) has quite the chance to get something from the game and become a decent pick for this gameweek.

Luis Suarez (£10.3m, 11 pts) continues to get popularity among fantasy managers as well as with his unstoppable form, scoring 5 goals in last 4 Premier League games.

GAMEWEEK 13 DREAM TEAM

Al-Habsi

Rafael — Shawcross — Enrique

Adam Johnson — Cazorla — Sterling — Bale

Tevez (VC) — Van Persie (C) — Suarez

Subs: Begovic — Pablo Hernandez —  Mertesacker — Cuellar

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FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City players showing off their new kit in style.

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

Password: http://p-fplz.blogspot.com/

Last Season: Dramatic Finish
It was such a exciting finale last season, and City should be grateful to be at the right end of it. Sitting at the summit of English top-flight league since 1967/68 season is definitely a wonderful achievement for the Citizens. They should improve on their consistency nonetheless, as clubs like Manchester United do not usually slip an 8-point lead.

This Summer: Strangely Quiet
The sheikhs at Etihad Stadium are somehow obeying the FIFA Financial Fair Play currently, signing no one so far. Out are fringe players Owen Hargreaves and Wayne Bridge (on loan). Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie was linked with the club before, but Mancini has played down the chance to get the Dutch's service.

Upcoming Season: Title Defence
The stress level will be higher for Roberto Mancini following his success in getting the league title. Expectations will be higher as well definitely, especially in UEFA Champions League where City got knocked out embarrassingly in group stage last term. Tougher task awaits for the Italian.

Aguero's score
distribution.

Untouchable: Aguero (FI: 0.738)
No matter how Mancini rotate his set of forwards last season, there was one player who always remained as his primary pick, and that was Sergio Aguero (£11.5m).

Mancini's faith was not a blind one - the forward scored 23 goals and 9 assists in his debut Premier League season which ranked him third in FPL. With everything remains almost the same at Etihad Stadium, fantasy managers can expect Kun to deliver the same level of performance in this coming season.

Silva's score
distribution.

Consistent: Silva (FI: 0.468)
It is quite a surprise to see David Silva (£10.0m) ranks only at number 10 in terms of FI among Manchester City's players, but that was mainly due to this superb consistency - the lack of score fluctuations has made his CI very low.

Silva might not be a good captain candidate (his upside potential is relatively low), but he is definitely a good season long pick. I cannot recall any player who was more consistent than him last season.

Pricey: Kompany (FI: 0.578)
Sure, Vincent Kompany (£7.5m) is the key man in City's defence, but does he worth as much as £7.5m in FPL? Sounds negative to me.

City's defence was always one class lower when the skipper was not around, but given the fact that defence works as a unit rather than an individual, I would prefer to seek for other alternatives at City. Joleon Lescott (£6.5m), Kompany's partner in central defence, is £1m cheaper than the Belgian, yet he was only 13 poitns shy from Kompany's 145 points last season.

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